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Monday, October 25, 2010

It’s time for action, for active resistance. Like the great Mario Benedetti’s recommendation to his son: "Son, / don’t give up, / please, don’t give in. /... Because each day is a new beginning".

Don’t give up! Now, more than ever, because change is now possible. Because citizen power can make itself known, thanks to modern communications technology that facilitates distance participation. Because there are more, many more of us each day who don’t want to continue as passive spectators, fainthearted and fearful, but rather we want to say that “we’ve had enough!” of an economic system based on greed, speculation and war, which has led the world to a profound multiple (financial, democratic, environmental, nutritional...) crisis.

The immense power of the media’s “massive entertainment” distracts and lulls us to sleep... without addressing the great global and local problems and challenges that we must face. And tax havens remain open, and all kinds of trafficking continue; and the exploitation of the natural resources of “developing countries” continues; and damage to the environment continues; and, although the most prosperous countries are armed to their teeth, they still lack adequate technology and personnel to respond to natural disasters (floods, fire, hurricanes, earthquakes...); and a group of plutocrats still seeks to rule the world, instead of reinforcing the United Nations and returning values and social justice to the forefront of political action.

For the first time, in a very few years, the influence of the “voice of the citizens”, freely expressed through SMS and Internet, will provide one of the guidelines for authentic democracy, which will no longer be limited to the ballot box.

Yes, it is time to take action, to speak up and to mobilize.

We must refuse to give up.

For that reason, as Pedro Salinas said in "Todo más claro", it is essential to realize that "When a tired man... / stops, / he betrays the world, because he fails / in his supreme duty, which is to continue on...".

And he added: "We tremble with future". Yes! We will tremble with future because –I enjoy repeating— that the future has yet to be built!

Adolfo Pérez Esquivel said that in these times resistance is more important than ever. Let’s follow his advice.